LATEST THINKING

OVERVIEW

Becoming a grid optimizer in the new age of energy

The energy landscape is shifting fast, placing new demands on grid operators. Utilities must adapt, but they are hamstrung by an outdated industry model of centralized generation and energy delivery that was intended to maximize economies of scale.

Utilities have invested billions in infrastructure that has a long life, but it also has consequences that linger. Utilities will be locked into a regulatory asset base that requires consumers to pay for the infrastructure for decades to come. This will become a misallocation of public funds and could require policy makers to step in.

KEY FINDINGS

Conventional asset planning must align with what will happen in the grid. Continuing to invest in redundant grid assets will drain value and deflect potential savings opportunities. To plan the right investments, utilities must know—at a street level—the impact of adoption. Communities in the same city can have drastically different adoption patterns.

Investing in the wrong areas not only leads to potentially lost revenue, it puts the grid at risk for overload and failure. Bottom-up analytics and economic modeling reveal a clearer picture of energy impact from neighborhood to neighborhood, giving grid operators insights needed to prevent disinvestments and optimize system-wide investments. However, few have the capabilities needed to do so.

Already applied to a job?

Sign in with e-mail and password

Validation summary

Invalid username / password

There is already a separate, active Accenture Careers account with the same email address as your LinkedIn account email address. Please try logging in with your registered email address and password. You can then update your LinkedIn sign-in connection through the Edit Profile section.

There is already a separate, active account tied to your LinkedIn profile. Please continue registration for this program without your LinkedIn profile or use a different LinkedIn account or email address.